The plans include adapting and diversifying MSC Malaysia Cybercentres, through the setting up of new Digital Hubs. These new Digital Hubs will aim to encourage more venues to be optimised for MSC Malaysia corporates, yet be able to support startup ecosystems with the necessary hard infrastructure offerings such as high speed broadband to enable growth of the Internet economy. Currently, there are three MSC Malaysia Cybercities that meet the standards of Tech investors, including Cyberjaya, Midvalley and Bangsar South.

“The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and through the continuing efforts of the Government and MDEC, Malaysia has risen to become one of the leading e-commerce markets, generating a revenue of USD2.3billion last year alone. With this in mind, we must strive to exceed our 2020 economic contribution target and intensify our efforts in innovating, accessing and adopting the use of digital technologies to build a brighter future for ourselves and our nation,” said Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib.

Currently the contributions to GDP from the Digital Economy stands at 17.8 per cent, only 0.4 per cent short of the previous 2020 target.

This success comes on the back of digital inclusivity efforts, the eRezeki and eUsahawan initiatives that were launched last year. The eRezeki programme is designed to encourage the B40 households to be independent, find new ways to earn income including through non-financial asset ownership. Meanwhile, the eUsahawan programme aims to develop a generation that embraces the Digital Economy by incorporating digital entrepreneurship skills into the curriculum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.

“In the last one year, the eRezeki and eUsahawan programmes have proven to be crucial in laying a facilitative foundation for the development of Malaysia’s Digital Economy by engaging with and educating our nation’s key current and future economic contributors. We aim to build off this strong groundwork by introducing new strategic initiatives that will address the creation of Digital Hubs and the development of the local talent pools to further elevate the Internet Economy in this burgeoning sector,” said Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer, MDEC.

One of the five catalysts of the Digital Economy is the development of the local talent pool. In line with advancing the Internet Economy, MDEC recently launched #mydigitalmaker movement, an initiative to create a nation of digital makers. This movement in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the support of private sectors and academia, will expose Malaysian youth to the creative and innovative aspects of digital technology through the integration of Computational Thinking and Computer Science into formal school curriculum; as well as getting industry and universities to help nurture and groom talented young digital makers through extra co-curriculum activities.

Additionally, MDEC is collaborating with Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) Malaysia to upskill the talent development for the Digital Economy. This collaboration will see allocation of funds from HRDF’s Pool Fund, for the development of programmes on critical ICT skills. This is part of the Digital Talent Strategic Intervention Roadmap, which is to designed to create a sustainable industry-led development model.

“I believe that 2017 will be the year of the Internet Economy for Malaysia. For Malaysia to build a vibrant Digital Economy, we need inclusivity from both the people and the capital economy. Our people are the key drivers to the larger economy, which is why we have specific initiatives targeted to key communities such as youth, SMEs, digital entrepreneurs and the B40,” said Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib.